Preparing for Lent

Before we know it, Ash Wednesday will be here (a week from today, it will already be history!)  How best can we use this precious time, or even more fundamentally, DO we want to use it at all?  Will every day be like every other day of the year, or will we be able to crank up the steam and the discipline to take advantage of the atmosphere, the readings, and the encouragement offered to us to"repent and believe the good news"?
One advantage is that "everybody is doing it."  In the Eastern Church, meatless days have already begun, so families who have been abstaining from meat over the years have accumulated enough recipes to see them through six weeks of meatless meals without much difficulty.  Even with this "routine" in place, it's still a demand and sacrifice to remain faithful to this regimen.  And sacrifice in union with the sacrifice of Jesus is really the point of this strict abstinence.  The Roman Rite demands abstinence from meat only on Ash Wednesdays and the Fridays of Lent.  Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are days of Fast and Abstinence:  (one complete meatless meal each day)...to "feel the pinch"  to say to the natural urges to satisfy every tickle of the tongue, "You are not in charge, I am.". 
Moreover, in addition to the "giving up" aspect of Lent...what positively and actively can we do to make these upcoming six weeks different and spiritually productive?  This is the time to start thinking ahead so that on Ash Wednesday, we'll have a plan in place and be ready to roll as soon as the ashes on our foreheads proclaim our resolve to spend a fruitful Lent, come closer to Jesus, and become a better Christian.
Bro. Rene